Stellar Undead

These are the bodies of starship crews raised by raw force from the Negative Material Plane. That energy twists the sailors' dying thoughts of home, safety and comrades into a ghastly longing to walk among the living again and warm themselves with fresh blood.

In the void between worlds corpses rot very slowly, so from more than 3 feet away a stellar undead looks much as it did alive. Its body and clothing still bear the marks of whatever killed it, though it pulls out any weapons left stuck in it. A shred of intellect survives: each speaks one language from its former life in a hollow rasp that can pass for a parched throat, mostly in single words such as 'help', 'yes', 'no', 'food' or 'thanks'. Infravision to 90 feet lets it track warm bodies, and it can sense other undead within its line of sight.

A stellar undead attacks with two claws for 2d4 each and a bite for 3d4. When both claws hit the same target in a round, a bite on that target that round deals double damage. Once a victim takes all three hits in one round, the creature stops clawing and clings tight, dealing an automatic 2 points each round thereafter while it keeps biting for double damage on a hit. The victim may try a Strength check once per round to tear free.

It still carries the gear it died with but no longer remembers how to use it, so it may fumble at swinging a sword or triggering a wand to no effect. It is immune to mind-affecting magic such as sleep, charm, fear and hold. Its tie to the Negative Plane means it is turned as a lich. A direct hit with holy water deals 2d12 damage and a splash 1d6.

These undead have no leaders or society. They collect wherever ragged survivors would be expected, like starship wrecks or barren asteroids where they can pose as shipwreck victims. The usual ploy is to cling to a chunk of hull and play stranded sailor, some feigning unconsciousness, others waving and shouting at passing ships.

Taken aboard, they try to pass as living for as long as they can. Each turn there is a cumulative 5% chance they lose control and attack together, biting the nearest warm flesh. Meanwhile, 45% of the time one tries some ordinary living act such as eating, drinking or writing to keep up the act; otherwise they simply follow wherever they are led, muttering thanks, until the hunger wins.

At the start of the encounter, roll percentile dice. The number is both the days since the crew died and the percentage chance that each try at seeming alive goes wrong. On a 47, for instance, they died 47 days ago, and one trying to sip from a flask has a 47% chance of botching it.

Stellar undead exist only on the Prime Material Plane. Within five miles of a true gate to the Negative Material Plane they cannot be turned and regenerate 2 hit points per round.